More than a month has passed since the season drew to a close. While Wayne wasn't able to bring the walnut-and-bronze home from Florence, they did manage to accomplish a few other things:
  • For one, after all of the hubbub surrounding the playoff selections they certainly proved they belonged in the bracket. They were the last team in/announced, but were nearly the last one left standing at the end of the tournament.
  • For another, Wayne may just "be around for a while". There may have been some questions surrounding how consistently the Warriors would be competitive in the GLIAC, namely because their history doesn't support them doing so (especially when one considers they have tossed in a few solid seasons over the years). But after 17 regular season wins the last two campaigns and this year's playoff run, it's hard to see Wayne not figuring into the mix moving forward...ESPECIALLY with the program's successful retention of head coach Paul Winters. Despite being offered the head job at his alma mater Akron, the recently-named AFCA DII Coach of the Year decided he's standing pat in Motown and that lack of upheaval will certainly help keep the Warriors pointed in the right direction. It's a good thing, too, as maintaining success after departures is the hallmark of a great program...and there are quite a few departures that Winters will have to deal with. First, there are ten seniors that started in the title game that will be gone, including a couple of All-Americans. Roughly twenty seniors in total will be gone, and that's a whole lotta leadership and minutes that will need to be replaced. It also bears mentioning that at least a couple of members of the WSU staff have jumped ship since the Title Game, most notably Defensive Coordinator John Hauser who is moving to the University of Illinois to be their Director of Player Personnel. Wayne's D was very good, especially during the playoffs so Winters figuring out how he wants to shore up that spot will prove very important.
  • Last, they helped bolster the GLIAC's rep around the country. Folks always want to "compare conferences". I'm not typically a fan of this since there aren't "round-robins" going on to prove things one way or the other. That said, it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that the GLIAC was awfully good this year. Wayne ran all the way to the finals, and Saginaw lost an overtime heartbreaker at UMD in the first round. Having seen everyone in the league this year and most of the opponents the GLIAC saw during the playoffs, I'm pretty confident that the league's other top teams (Hillsdale and Grand Valley) would have had a pretty good shot at good runs themselves had they been able to make the bracket. Of course there aren't guarantees, but the eye-test sure suggested to me that within SR3 the GLIAC was pretty darn tough. One of the knocks on the league over the last few years has been that Grand Valley was the only team in the league that has "proven anything"...the GLIAC can't be saddled with that anymore.



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